Hoverboards and “hovermoms”: Helicopter parents and their influence on millennial students’ rapport with instructors

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Excerpt: The nature of the millennial–parent relationship may influence how we visit instructor-student rapport in the future. Even in the midst of transitioning to college, millennial students “are often exceedingly close to their parents, who assume participatory roles in their children’s educational pursuits” (Elam, Stratton, & Gibson, 2007, p. 22). Because college years are a complex period traditionally defined by familial, interpersonal, academic, and organizational relationships (Terenzini et al., 1994), a constant, overbearing parental presence may affect students’ expectations for their relationship with their instructors. Thus, this increased sheltering of millennial students may ultimately lead to changing student needs, including a greater focus on the instructor–student relationship, and specifically, rapport (Jorgenson, 1992).